Our phones burst to life with flood alerts as we loaded up the last of our things before making the 45 min. drive to Port Jervis for SSUSA 2018. We jumped into Ramblin' Fever and descended the twisty, narrow road as the rain poured down and flowed along side us like a river. The water had just crested the first dam we came upon but we passed safely and luckily the next few hadn't yet crested. It was a white-knuckle drive for 40 min into the small NY town but we arrived with enough time to grab a bite to eat in a tiny diner before the real shit show began.
The rain ceased and the sun peeked out as we settled up our tab and headed to registration. Dejay was there to welcome us to his playground with hugs and piles of swag (best $65 well spent!). We found a shady place to park the van, loaded up our gear and ran through the final checks of our single speed Lamere's. We gathered around the fountain in the center of town... a rag-tag group of single speeders in varying degrees of costumes and lycra. Hugs, high fives and laughter floated throughout the crowd and I chucked to myself as I watched a man and woman dressed straight out of 1950's church attire standing next to a sign inviting us to "Find your way through the Bible".
It appears they new who they were dealing with.
A police escort lead us through town to the base of the Watershed Trail where we climbed a long gravel road to the top but, somewhere along the way, the lead group of us got lost. Apparently, we were all to reconvene at the top for a LeMond start, running through a knee-deep creek but the groups Jay and I were in at the front never got the memo.
My pack proceeded to climb for 4 miles of rocky, slow single track before we found even a moment of respite. It was about that time that Jay called me. We were 1/2 hour in and Jay found himself at the top of 'lap #2'... solo. I had no idea if my pack was in the right place or not so we pressed on. Jay hung tight waiting for the group he dropped, convinced he could hear their freewheels approaching. We later found out it was actually the sound of a nearby rattlesnake. WTF?!
He called me again while I was pushing my bike up a mile-long hike-a-bike, frustrated that he still hadn't seen a soul. I was doing the math and it was looking to be a six hour day if this pace kept up but I put one foot in front of the other until I got to the top. (Just keep swimming, girl). Once there, I was back on the bike but my legs were shot. I couldn't get my speed up so I changed my mindset and focused on the joy of riding completely new terrain. It was a blast riding the hardest rock beds I'd ever seen... you couldn't even call them "rock gardens" because they they never ended.
Wet from the night's rain that kept flowing down the trails, I focused on riding over the rocks as they clacked and shifted beneath me. This is one of the greatest joys in my life at this time... I'm riding with more skill than I ever have before and it brings me life! Even though I'm not the fastest, most talented mountain biker as I wish I was, I am the best ME on a bike ... better than I was a year ago, a month, f&%$... better than I was yesterday.
Some 5 miles later, Jay texted me, "I'm freaking out here. Please call me". Eh? I pulled off the trail and used the last seconds of battery that remained to call him. Every one of our pals that Jay found said they hadn't seen me and it became apparent that my group was not on course, or at least not in the right order. I told him I'd head to the campground where all the loops were supposed to come through and wait for him... wherever the F that was. I was over 2 hours in, low on water, and old injuries were dropping in on me to make sure I hadn't forgot them.
I found the campground at (my) mile 17 and found water, beer, and Chewy to rest with and wait for Jay to return. Muddy, soaked, and exhausted, I sat until he rode up to me pissed that he'd missed all the fun. Heck, we couldn't find a single person who actually found the entire course and did it in the right order. Dejay.
We rode back into town to find some food and head to the Riverside Park where we found a shady spot to nap under before the evening's championship games and debauchery started. Nearby, we saw a small pool about the size of a hot tub, made out of a tarp and some hay bails. We figured it had something to do with our Rubber Ducky number plates and jumped in to soak out overheated bodies. We came back to life in the cool water as we made friends with others who joined us for a soak and the rest of the crowd began to fill the park.
Although the course was a friggin' disaster of missed laps, unmarked turns, whatever.. for the $65 entry fee, we got a crap ton of swag, and the party in the park had a live band, a full dinner spread with a hog roast, pulled pork, veggies, slaw, and FREE BEER!!! Kudos, Dejay & cruė!!!
As we finished eating, the sun began to set and the heat of the day went with it. We shifted to the field to explore the demented depths of Dejay's mind and discover how the next SSUSA champions were going to compete.
Heats of 3-4 riders were to ride pixie bikes through a gauntlet of drunken single speeders assaulting them with pool noodles as they navigated a slew of road cones on their way to the duck pond where we had to dismount and cyclocross our way through it. Luckily, us ladies went first so the 'pool noodlers' weren't too drunk and brazen yet and the hits weren't all that severe (at least in the first heat). I won the first heat with a nice gap and sat on a small hill watching the men's heats begin as I tried to bring down my heart rate. I looked over at Jay and whispered "I want to win this"....
As the men's heats began, full-contact racing and spectating unfolded and the antics escalated quickly. The 'noodlers' realized they could bend the noodles into loops and hook the bars of the riders, a running sprinkler was saturating the ground into a mushy, soggy mess, and the guys were even wrestling in the duck pond as they raced.
My whole body hummed as I watched the men's heats, calculating the best bike, the best pole position, quietly anticipating the women's finals. I was on my feet the second Dejay shouted "Ladies", making my way to the inside start position with the little black n' yellow pixie bike in hand. It was down to three of us and I carefully lined up my pedals as time slowed down in anticipation of the start... three laps ahead of us... this was it.
SSUSA 2018 CHAMPION!!! I'm gonna have fun hammering my name into that Champion's Belt for the third time! :)
High on the excitement, we partied in the park a little longer but soon rode a few blocks to a nearby bowling alley for the Hosting Competition. The teams bowled as we drank beers and heckled. The winners were competing for Austin, TX and we erupted when they won... Texas 2019, here we come!
Let the relaxation begin!
Kristy Kreme
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